Beef Tartare: choice or prime?

[Jenise]

I have made beef tartare like exactly twice in my whole life, and always with the best filet available but that would have been choice. Now that I can buy prime at Costco I'm considering going that route for the dish I'm making next weekend. But where it's obviously an upgrade if you're grilling a steak, is the extra fat in a ground, raw filet beneficial in a tartare? I can imagine the answer to that question going both ways.

The tartare I'm making is an Ethiopian, btw. Called kitfo, if will be pretty heavily seasoned. Maybe that kind of negates any gain from the extra fat, if one otherwise thinks it would be an improvement in a classic French preparation, such that the additional expense isn't warranted.

Anyone have an opinion?

[Carl Eppig]

Agree with prime.

[Jenise]

Carl, you'll be amused by this. I've been perusing recipes for the dish on line, and one recipe suggested a "low fat beef, like top round or rib-eye". RIB-EYE?

[Dale Williams]

I'd say the money and go with choice. Kitfo is pretty heavily seasoned. Plus the point with prime meat isn't the total fat per se but the marbling- seems to me if you mince/finely chop you lose any advantage of prime.

[Mike Filigenzi]

I'm with Dale on this one. I'm not sure you could really tell the difference between choice and prime in something like tartare.

[Carl Eppig]

The idea is to reduce the fat to a minimum, as it will spoil very quickly as compared to lean meat. I wouldn't use a prime rib eye, but a prime eye of round would be just about perfect.

[Jenise]

I'd say the money and go with choice. Kitfo is pretty heavily seasoned. Plus the point with prime meat isn't the total fat per se but the marbling- seems to me if you mince/finely chop you lose any advantage of prime.

My reasoning pretty much exactly with emphasis on the heavy seasoning. A marginal difference I can imagine in a classic French bistro tartare will just disappear in a kitfo.

I'm also pretty happy not having to work a Costco run into my morning on Saturday.

[Jenise]

The idea is to reduce the fat to a minimum, as it will spoil very quickly as compared to lean meat. I wouldn't use a prime rib eye, but a prime eye of round would be just about perfect.

I wouldn't use a rib eye period--it's not a low fat cut, and there'd be too much waste. I was surprised that one recipe's reccomendation didn't include top sirloin. It's generally fairly lean, and has more inherent tenderness and flavor than round. I really do want to use filet, though, as most experts seem to agree that it has the best texture for tartare.

[Paul Winalski]

If we're looking for a low-fat cut, wouldn't you be better off with choice than with prime? I thought the main difference is that prime beef has more marbling (i.e., more fat in the meat) than choice.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

If we're looking for a low-fat cut, wouldn't you be better off with choice than with prime? I thought the main difference is that prime beef has more marbling (i.e., more fat in the meat) than choice.

-Paul W.

I never said I was looking for a low fat cut, I just objected to a cut like ribeye that would have too much waste. Separately, I understand that marbling is fat, and fat is tasty. On a filet, my cut of choice here, there really isn't any other way to get fat and I was wondering aloud if a little extra fat as provided by the marbling would have a flavor benefit. I still think it could, but it's moot in the spicy dish I'm making.

[Jon Peterson]

I'd say the money and go with choice. Kitfo is pretty heavily seasoned. Plus the point with prime meat isn't the total fat per se but the marbling- seems to me if you mince/finely chop you lose any advantage of prime.

Dale's thought that the selection of choice or prime is dependent on the degree of the mincing/chopping makes sense to me.

[Bill Spohn]

But isn't ribeye a low fat cut, in that the fat is separate and can easily be cut out, leaving lean meat, as opposed to some cuts and types (wagyu) that actually have higher fat content, but throughout the meat so you can't cut it out?

[Jenise]

But isn't ribeye a low fat cut, in that the fat is separate and can easily be cut out, leaving lean meat, as opposed to some cuts and types (wagyu) that actually have higher fat content, but throughout the meat so you can't cut it out?

Sure you can cut and separate most of the fat. But I still wouldn't call what's left "low fat", not the way you'd use it in the same sentence with eye of round which is basically fat-free. Top sirloin would have less, I think.

[Ines Nyby]

We went out last night to a local quasi-French restaurant called Cheval Blanc and I ordered the appetizer portion of steak tartare as my main course. It was billed as being made from "hand-cut prime filet mignon." It turned out to be a (to me) very large portion of somewhat coarsely chopped filet, inadequately spiced with raw onion, egg yolk, parsley and a tiny bit of mustard, served with some nice toast points and a cornet of very good shoestring frites. I really did not like the tartare and brought it home to cook today as a taco filling.
I can say that based on that dish I would not use prime filet for beef tartare, I'd choose a leaner and more flavorful cut like top sirloin and chop it much more finely and use a whole lot more seasoning.
My mother used to make beef tartare and she used top sirloin or even a good round-steak, devoid of fat and finely ground twice, with the addition of finely chopped onion, mustard, egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce and a shot of brandy.

[Jenise]

We went out last night to a local quasi-French restaurant called Cheval Blanc and I ordered the appetizer portion of steak tartare as my main course. It was billed as being made from "hand-cut prime filet mignon." It turned out to be a (to me) very large portion of somewhat coarsely chopped filet, inadequately spiced with raw onion, egg yolk, parsley and a tiny bit of mustard, served with some nice toast points and a cornet of very good shoestring frites. I really did not like the tartare and brought it home to cook today as a taco filling.
I can say that based on that dish I would not use prime filet for beef tartare, I'd choose a leaner and more flavorful cut like top sirloin and chop it much more finely and use a whole lot more seasoning.
My mother used to make beef tartare and she used top sirloin or even a good round-steak, devoid of fat and finely ground twice, with the addition of finely chopped onion, mustard, egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce and a shot of brandy.

Ah, your dear mom. I still remember sitting at your breakfast table, and her holding my hand. Meant a lot to this motherless child.

What a shame for your meal to be underseasoned! But I agree with your advice: I'm using top sirloin tomorrow. In the highly spiced Ethiopian version, the nuances of meat quality were pretty buried. And sirloin's pretty richly flavored, should be fine.

[GeoCWeyer]

Generally the tenderloin is not a cut that has marbling. Many steakhouses while using prime grade cuts for their other steaks will use choice grade tenderloins, for example Murrays in Minneapolis. There is no reason to buy the prime grade tenderloins.